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If you substantially change the hardware of your computer, you are supposed to get a new licence because it's like it is another computer. It's not a bug but a feature.

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In my case, the first time I fully booted the Windows 10 disk was in the VM. I wonder if this counted as a 'change' or does it think that the VM is the original hardware now?

I bet that if you tried to boot the disk naitively then Windows would want to be activated.

Maybe! Windows seems to be activated just fine in the VM.

It’s a feature for Microsoft, but a bug as far as the users are concerned.

If you want to use Windows without paying for a licence you can just install kmspico.

What most people want is to pay and then not worry about random downgrades and deactivations, even if they upgrade a parr or two, or boot the same machine indirectly through a hyper visor.

Apparently, Microsoft does not or cannot deliver this, and as we’ve seen this week may randomly downgrade your system even if nothing changed.

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